Apparatus for covering slots in cable railways



(NoModeL) 2 Sheets-'-Sheet 1.

0. s. DRAKE; APPARATUS FOR COVERING SLOTS IN CABLE RAILWAYs. No. 258,564. Patented May 30, 1882.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. DRAKE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

APPARATUS FGR COVERING SLOTS lN CABLE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,564, dated May 30,1882.

Application filed October 24,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES S. DRAKE, of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco, and in the State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Covering Slots in Cable Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

This invention relates to what is denominated a wire-cable railway and itconsists in certain novel means, hereinafter explainethtor closing the slot between the guide-rails for preventing the tube or channel which is beneath the roadway from filling with surface dirt,-snow, 860.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of my improved devices for closing the slot between the guide-rails. Fig. 2 is a view of the hinged closin g-plates applied to the guide-rails. Fig. 3 is an elevation showing a side view of the shank, its rollers, a short section of a guide-rail and closing-plate. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the shank, showing its rollers protruding alternately from opposite sides thereof. Fig. 5 is a modification.

In the drawings, A A designate inverted T-shaped rails, which are arranged parallel to each other, so as to leave a narrow slot between them for the passage of a vertical shank, B. The rail-guides A A are supported at proper intervals by means of ribs or standards N, formed so as to leave a tube or channel beneath said slot, in which channel travel the endless cable I and the gripping-rollers J, which are suitably applied to the horizontal footof the shank B. The shank B is in practice secured rigidly to the bed of a car or dummy, and provided with means whereby an attendant on the car can adjust the rollers J so that they will grip or be released from the cable I, thus starting or stopping the car at pleasure.

D D designate two continuous elastic metal strips, which are connected by hinges E E to the tops of the guide-rails A A. The inner edges of the strips D D are beveled, as shown, so that as the shank B passes between them they will assume the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and then close, as indicated by Fig. 2. The outer edges of the said strips'are so applied to the hinges E that they will at all times impinge on the guide-rail tops, thus excluding dirt, 860.

For the purpose of insuring the closing of the strips D before and behind the shank B, I have invented the following contrivance: To the bottom sides of the continuous strips D, I fiX eyes a a, arranged at suitable distances apart, and to these eyes I attach wires 1), which are passed beneath grooved guide-pulleys F F and over similar pulleys, G, on brackets P, and to the depending ends of these wires 1) weights H H. (Shown in Fig. l.)

I should have stated, when referring to the shank B, that it is provided with anti-friction rollers C, arranged so as to protrude alternately from opposite sides of the shank B and impinge against the inner edges of the narrow closing-strips D.

If desired, the closing-strips may be hinged beneath the flanges of the guide-rails and provided with springs S S as substitutes for the weights above described. This modification is shown in Fig. 5. l

I do not claim broadly, under this application, the shank B provided with anti-friction rollers, as this feature is claimed in my application filed October 19, 1881.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination of the hinged closingstrips, the inverted T-rails, the hinges E, and weights or their equivalents for keeping said strips closed, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the shank B, the anti-friction rollers thereon, the guide-rails ar ranged with a slot between them, the hinged and beveled closing-strips, and the means, substantially as described,for keeping these strips CHARLES s. DRAKE.

Witnesses SAML. S. MURFEY, GHAs. W. DAKIN. 

